Tackle climate change by cutting food waste
Do you know that globally 33% of all food that is produced goes to waste (this equates to 1.3 billion tonnes of food per year!) and results in 8% of CO2 emissions, while at the same time, 820 million people worldwide are hungry? (FoodCloud) According to FoodCloud, we use farmland the size of China, Mongolia and Kazakhstan combined to grow food that is never eaten yet projections suggest that by 2050, cropland areas may have to be 10 to 25% larger than in 2005 to feed the planet’s 2 billion extra people. This makes reconciling global food production with conservation of biodiversity one of the major challenges of our times (WWF Living Planet Report 2020) and highlights the need to introduce changes to the way food is produced, to our diet, and attitudes towards food waste.
The food waste from UK households and businesses is “around 9.5 million tonnes, 70% of which was intended to be consumed by people (30% being the ‘inedible’ parts). This had a value of over £19 billion a year and would be associated with more than 25 Mt of GHG emissions (this equates to emissions from 10 million cars). That food, if eaten, would make the equivalent of over 15 billion meals — enough to feed the entire UK population 3 meals a day for 11 weeks.” (Source: WRAP).
The figures are shocking and heart wrenching, yet they don’t even mention other negative aspects associated with food production such as deforestation to create farmlands, adverse effects of the use of fertilisers and pesticides, additional waste created by food packaging, energy used to create, transport and store food, or the amount of freshwater needed to grow things.
So, what can I do to prevent this global tragedy?
8 practical ways to reduce food waste
- Consider your diet 🤔
The choices we make about what we eat have a powerful impact on the environment, climate change and energy conservation. The carbon footprint of our diet is significant because agriculture is responsible for most of the emissions of methane and nitrous oxide, the two main greenhouse gases after CO2.
A vegetarian is responsible for much fewer greenhouse gas emissions than someone who eats a lot of red meat (see Figure 1). As such, it might be worth considering how much meat and or dairy products you consume. You can further help the environment by ideally growing your own organic food or buying more local whole, unprocessed food and cooking at home to help decrease energy consumption. Cooking unprocessed organic food, purchased locally, significantly reduces our carbon footprint. Let’s make the effort to harmonise our diet and our ecological values.
2. Make meal plans 📝
Think about what you’re going to cook and how you’ll use the ‘leftovers’, to prevent ingredients going to waste, a week after your food shopping trip.
3. Check what you need before shopping — don’t over buy 📋
Keep track of what you’ve bought and used. Take photos of your fridge and cupboards to remind you of what’s there and make a list before you go shopping. Don’t shop when you are hungry as you’re likely to buy more food than you need!
4. Measure your portions 🥄
Have you ever cooked too much rice or pasta? Well, I have! Fortunately, my husband introduced me to the concept of measuring portions, and I haven’t cooked too much of anything since. Measuring portions will help you maintain a healthy and well-balanced diet and ensure that you don’t overeat or worse produce waste. (Head here to see recommendations for Perfect Portions and a serving size guide).
5. Freeze & preserve ️❄️
If you have too much fresh produce consider sharing it with others, freezing (here are 10 tips on freezing) or preserving (for tips read our last blog).
6. Compost 🗑
If you are going to produce some waste, avoid adding to landfill and create the best soil improver by composing at home! It’s easy, doesn’t take up time and will make your plants produce delicious food, with no need to spend money on expensive fertilisers.
7. Be mindful 💚
Amma constantly emphasises that we should not waste food. While I’m sure that most of us are aware of food waste being a ‘bad thing’, the 1.3 million tonnes of food being wasted globally suggests that we are not always sufficiently aware. Amma says that “any action performed without discrimination is adharma, an unrighteous act” and she sees waste as a careless act that is a form of stealing, since we are not really using what is going to waste, yet we have destroyed that life and denied an opportunity for someone else to use it instead (Source: Awaken Children! vol. 5 by Amma, Sri Mata Amritanandamayi Devi pages 96–98 ). Together, we can create a better world by being mindful of:
● What we need and ensuring that we ‘take’ only what we can truly consume so that nothing goes to waste
● The amount of energy and water it takes to produce what we eat and the impact that this has on our environment
● The ‘life’ that was sacrificed to sustain us (e.g. the life of a vegetable or a single leaf of a herb)
8. Help to educate others 📗
Many individuals won’t be aware of the impact that their ‘eating’ habits and lack of awareness have on the environment. Share this blog and point them to other useful resources. The International Day of Awareness of Food Loss and Waste is taking place on the 29th September, why not join in the campaign to stop food loss and waste today!
Composting tips
✔️ If you live in an urban area and have a small outdoor space (this includes balconies and windowsills) you may want to consider either worm composting or a bokashi system. You can read more about these here.
✔️ If you have a garden or a larger outdoor space you may want to consider building compost heaps, using compost bins or a three-bin compost system. You can read more about these here, page 53.
✔️ Composting is a balancing act of mixing ‘greens’ e.g. flowers, coffee grounds, raw fruit and veg, grass with ‘browns’ e.g. paper, cardboard, fallen leaves, wood ash. If you don’t want it to smell, aim for 2 parts brown to 1 part green. However, if you don’t mind a bit of smell you can go with a 1:1 ratio.
✔️ The more varied the content of your compost bin the better.
✔️ Composting meat, bones and fish attracts vermin, so you may want to avoid putting these items in your compost.
Zero waste veg Balti recipe 😋
This is a lovely vegan recipe created by the Vegan Punks which is designed to work with whatever you have in the fridge!
May you be well, happy, healthy and full of compassion for all beings.
Domi & GreenFriends UK
